


The Only Ones They Can Save

by imagineteamfreewill



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Children, Gen, Orphans, the parents are dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 20:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17372690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineteamfreewill/pseuds/imagineteamfreewill
Summary: What happens to the kids, when the children are the only ones hunters like Sam & Dean can save?





	The Only Ones They Can Save

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally posted on my tumblr account of the same name on December 28th, 2018.

The children?

They just want to go home. But home isn’t there anymore and they’re left with two tall men—most likely covered in blood and with fierce expressions that soften only when they begin to cry, hiccuping for their mothers and fathers who left them to this fate. Dean steps up first, squatting down and talking in a soft voice, hoping that the blood on his face won’t distract them from his words.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” he soothes. “You’re safe now. My name’s Dean. I’m gonna keep you safe, I promise. Can you tell me your name, kiddo?”

They always answer, their tears wetting their words as they manage to choke out their name for the hunter. Dean smiles. He tells them that they’ll be okay again, and promises that he’s going to buy them ice cream once they’re ready to come out. It’s so pure and so heartbreakingly kind that their cries eventually simmer down into sniffles and they allow Dean to help them stand from their hiding place. He leads them over to Sam, who by now has gotten rid of the bodies and cleaned himself up a bit so he’s not as threatening. Dean introduces him as,  _“my little brother Sammy,”_  but for once Sam doesn’t get angry or correct him. He simply lets himself be Sammy for a few hours as they sit the kid on Baby’s trunk, wiping off their face with napkins from drive-thrus and telling them all the bad jokes they’ve picked up along the way. The boys smile and laugh and let themselves be brothers even though they’re exhausted and all they want to do is go home to the bunker, take a shower, and go to sleep. Underlying fear and shivers still run through the child’s little body despite the quiet giggles and sniffles they give at the particularly funny jokes, and Sam finds a blanket in the backseat of the car. They accept it eagerly, wrapping it around their little shoulders and pulling it close around them even though it’s scratchy. Sam knows it will help with the shock, but all they know is that blankets are warm and that blankets mean that they’re safe from the monsters. At least, that’s what Mommy always said. 

They want to know where their mom and dad went and the brothers exchange a look. Sam kneels down at the trunk. He’s far enough down now that the small child sitting on top has to look down to see him as Sam slowly explains what happened in layman’s terms. He doesn’t tell them about the monsters. He weaves a tail about a fire or a burglar–anything to convince the child that they haven’t witnessed some of the darkest and deadliest things the world has to offer. Dean watches as their eyes slowly widen and fill with tears when Sam tells them that their parents aren’t there, and soon it’s his turn to step in, scooping the tiny body up in his arms and holding it close, letting their tears soak through the material of his shirt. He digs the keys out of his pocket and tosses them at Sam with a look that says  _‘just drive,’_  and they’re on the road again.

Sam hates being the one who has to break the bad news. It makes him want to cry. He knows firsthand—at least to a point—what it’s going to be like for them to grow up without parents. But Dean always refused to do that part, so Sam stepped into his role and let his brother handle the rest. He thinks about it while he drives, only half his mind focused on the road. Doing this is routine by now, and that makes him sad, but he knows that this is the way it has to be. Later on he’ll be angry at himself for not doing better, for not moving fast enough or aiming better or getting there soon enough to stop the bleeding. For now, however, he focuses on the kid. He glances in the rearview mirror to remind himself of that, and he meets his brother’s eyes in the process.  _Dean is sad,_ he thinks as he looks back at the road.  _He remembers what it was like to lose Mom._

Dean will be angry tonight, too. Sam won’t see that anger because he’ll go to a bar, and then to a beautiful girl’s hotel room, or house, or apartment. He won’t stay long, and soon he’ll be back in his own bed in the motel, lying awake and listening to Sam snore the way he does when he drinks too much whiskey. The insomnia might actually be worse than whatever spirit or monster they ganked that night, Dean thinks, and he stares at the ceiling as his mind wanders back to the look on the kid’s face when Sam told them that their parents weren’t coming back for them. He knows what it’s like to be abandoned, to feel alone. He’s glad that Sam is willing to do that part, even though he knows his little brother hates it. 

The kid fell asleep in Dean’s lap soon after they pulled onto the highway, and when they wake up again they find themselves in a hospital bed, a large, soft flannel shirt wrapped around them like a blanket and a nurse with a kind smile sitting beside them. She tells them about the mysterious strangers who dropped them off, and how when they went back to get more information they were gone as if they’d never been there at all. The police men want to know the two men’s names, and the child tells them,  _“Sam and Dean.”_ They exchange funny looks like adults sometimes do and the kid wants their mom again, but then a nice lady shows up with a stuffed bear, or a dog, or maybe even a dragon, if they’re lucky. She knows all about how stuffed animals come to life when you leave the room, and the child listens to her stories with rapt attention, letting the nurses take care of them with small smiles on their faces.

So the kids?

They’re okay in the end. They find themselves in the foster system. Some of them go to nice homes. Others don’t, and they’re plagued by dreams of what happened, but nightmares go away after time and they grow up strong. The kids are survivors. They make it out okay, and they keep fighting and they thrive.


End file.
